But when I ask about Scientology, Sea Org, and allegations of forced abortions, Villa gets fidgety for the first time in the interview.

“I’m going to stop you right there,” she says midquestion. “No comment on that, but I will say that that’s horribly wrong and untrue. Anyone who is trying to take down another religion in the name of whatever cause is being destructive, and we have the freedom of religion for a reason. It’s totally false.”

Sheriff David Clarke joined Jon Miller live to talk about the Second Amendment and what we can do to ensure our children’s safety. Then, Joy Villa stopped by to talk about the very personal reasons that pro-life values are so important to her.

Potential 27th Miami Congressional District candidate Joy Villa and Scientology Freedom Medal Winner Nation of Islam Minister Tony Muhammad attend Scientology L. Ron Hubbard Birthday Event in Los Angeles.Source - The Public Facebook Group Dianetically Speaking, the Facebook home of the Nation of Islam and the Church of Scientology: https://www.facebook.com/groups/DianeticallySpeaking/permalink/1527900773975601/Accessed from browser that was not logged in, and has never been logged in, to Facebook.

The photography website PetaPixel is reporting that Thorsten Overgaard, a wealthy Danish photographer, got into hot water with his fellow camera enthusiasts when he offered super-luxury camera bags made not only of alligator skin but also elephant hide.

The 53-year-old Overgaard, known for his photography writing and workshops, sells luxury camera bags and bespoke suitcases through a partnership with Italian luxury designer Matteo Perin. The bags typically cost from $6,000 to $40,000 depending on the skin used, with calf being on the lower end and crocodile on the high end. But what caught the eye of some photographers was the elephant skin bag that was listed on the page.

We know Overgaard well because he’s a longtime Scientologist who, in 2016, married Joy Villa, the ever-ambitious Scientology celebrity who zoomed to fame for wearing a pro-Trump dress at the 2017 Grammy Awards red carpet and then worked her way into the White House. At one point, the president himself endorsed Joy’s intention to run for Congress, but after a falling out with her manager over tensions between her Scientology obligations and her conservative political ambitions, she has lost much of the momentum she had with Trump followers.

Overgaard, meanwhile, is less famous for his photography than for running seminars for other photographers. We didn’t know he was also selling high-end camera bags, but that certainly fits. When it was noticed that he was selling a bag made of elephant skin, he had a controversy on his hands.

According to PetaPixel, Overgaard tried to tamp down the outrage by claiming that the skin used on the bags was from elephants that had died “naturally,” and that proceeds from the sale of the material actually helped fund elephant conservation in Africa. But that only seemed to generate even more outrage.

The photography website PetaPixel is reporting that Thorsten Overgaard, a wealthy Danish photographer, got into hot water with his fellow camera enthusiasts when he offered super-luxury camera bags made not only of alligator skin but also elephant hide.

The 53-year-old Overgaard, known for his photography writing and workshops, sells luxury camera bags and bespoke suitcases through a partnership with Italian luxury designer Matteo Perin. The bags typically cost from $6,000 to $40,000 depending on the skin used, with calf being on the lower end and crocodile on the high end. But what caught the eye of some photographers was the elephant skin bag that was listed on the page.

We know Overgaard well because he’s a longtime Scientologist who, in 2016, married Joy Villa, the ever-ambitious Scientology celebrity who zoomed to fame for wearing a pro-Trump dress at the 2017 Grammy Awards red carpet and then worked her way into the White House. At one point, the president himself endorsed Joy’s intention to run for Congress, but after a falling out with her manager over tensions between her Scientology obligations and her conservative political ambitions, she has lost much of the momentum she had with Trump followers.

Overgaard, meanwhile, is less famous for his photography than for running seminars for other photographers. We didn’t know he was also selling high-end camera bags, but that certainly fits. When it was noticed that he was selling a bag made of elephant skin, he had a controversy on his hands.

According to PetaPixel, Overgaard tried to tamp down the outrage by claiming that the skin used on the bags was from elephants that had died “naturally,” and that proceeds from the sale of the material actually helped fund elephant conservation in Africa. But that only seemed to generate even more outrage.

“Overpopulation is a planetary danger and so this is a win-win,” Overgaard stated. “My company reduces excess population and my wealthy clientele is able to enjoy the smoothest luxury bags possible.”

“With prices starting at $40,000 the Von Overgaard bags are prized by Russian oligarchs, Washington DC lobbyists, Third World dictators, and others who have no moral qualms about owning the finest in luxury goods.”

“Available exclusively at the Von Overgaard Shop, we accept only discreet inquiries and cash in advance. And yes, like just like the Church of Scientology, we offer no refunds.”

“There’s no way she could run without support from the people on our side. The only person she would have on her side is Greg Mitchell, the lobbyist in Washington,” Robbie says. Mitchell is a longtime lobbyist for Scientology, and the fact that he’s also worked for some George Soros-affiliated groups makes him political strychnine as far the MAGA crowd goes, Robbie points out.

“She stood up Donald Trump Jr at the end there,” he says, referring to a December event she couldn’t make as her loyalty to Scientology caused her to miss events Robbie had set up for her. “She was supposed to show up at an event with 3,000 kids.”

<snipped>

Olson says Joy’s loyalty to Scientology got in the way of her political ambitions. “Everything fell apart. I still have the emails from people saying they wouldn’t work with her anymore,” he says.

At one point, Olson had worked out a meeting with alt-right figure Milo Yiannopoulos, to see if Joy might become an opening act for him on an upcoming tour. Robbie said he was stunned when she used the opportunity to bring up another Scientologist conservative in the meeting.

At the end of December, Robbie and Joy went their separate ways. In January, Yiannopoulos had Olson appear on a Facebook live interview show to discuss what a disaster Joy Villa’s political journey had become.

“She took advantage of everybody,” Robbie says. “She was trying to get the Church of Scientology into the White House. You can’t deny that. Everything she did was coached.”

“There’s no way she could run without support from the people on our side. The only person she would have on her side is Greg Mitchell, the lobbyist in Washington,” Robbie says. Mitchell is a longtime lobbyist for Scientology, and the fact that he’s also worked for some George Soros-affiliated groups makes him political strychnine as far the MAGA crowd goes, Robbie points out.

“She stood up Donald Trump Jr at the end there,” he says, referring to a December event she couldn’t make as her loyalty to Scientology caused her to miss events Robbie had set up for her. “She was supposed to show up at an event with 3,000 kids.”

<snipped>

Olson says Joy’s loyalty to Scientology got in the way of her political ambitions. “Everything fell apart. I still have the emails from people saying they wouldn’t work with her anymore,” he says.

At one point, Olson had worked out a meeting with alt-right figure Milo Yiannopoulos, to see if Joy might become an opening act for him on an upcoming tour. Robbie said he was stunned when she used the opportunity to bring up another Scientologist conservative in the meeting.

At the end of December, Robbie and Joy went their separate ways. In January, Yiannopoulos had Olson appear on a Facebook live interview show to discuss what a disaster Joy Villa’s political journey had become.

“She took advantage of everybody,” Robbie says. “She was trying to get the Church of Scientology into the White House. You can’t deny that. Everything she did was coached.”

Will any unused "testing the waters" / exploratory committee funds be contributed to the Church of Scientology and/or to Scientology front groups?

They are qualified 501(c)(3) charities.

According to the following Mental Floss and Open Secrets articles, it appears Villa can contribute any unused funds to charities -- which would of course include the Church of Scientology and related entities. I say "it appears" only because the articles address actual campaign funds, as opposed to "testing the waters" / exploratory committee funds, though I'd be surprised if different rules apply.

Here's what a campaign committee is allowed to do with any lingering cash: it can donate the funds to charities or political parties; it can contribute $2000 per election to other candidates; and it can save the money in case the candidate chooses to run again.

“The bottom line is no personal use, obviously,” Judith Ingram, a Federal Election Commission spokeswoman, told Capital Eye. “In addition, he can donate it to charity, or contribute it to the national party committee. He can contribute up to $2,000 to another candidate’s committee, put it into a PAC, convert his campaign committee into a PAC. He could do nothing with it … if he decided to run again he could dip back into it.”

***** END EXCERPT *****

My understanding of the FEC rules is that Villa could NOT "contribute" the money for her OT levels or another service. It has to be a pure charitable conyribution for which she receives no benefit.

In January, we reported that Joy Villa’s political aspirations had fallen apart when her manager, Robbie Olson, walked away and told us that Joy’s White House connections were drying up. Then earlier this month, we got some confirmation of that when Joy took down her “testing the waters” web pages for a Congressional run.

But even though Joy’s “MAGA” fame has been compromised as Trump supporters discover her deep Scientology involvement, Villa is still trying her best to insinuate herself in Trump’s White House.

Last Tuesday, she managed to get invited to sing the national anthem at a DC pro-life event that Trump himself attended. But behind the scenes, Joy’s latest stunt didn’t go over very well.

We learned that from Carla D’Addesi, a conservative Christian radio talk show host and political commentator who admits that she didn’t know about Joy’s Scientology involvement when she helped Joy get the gig last week.

Carla, like most people, had never heard of Joy Villa before the 2017 Grammy Awards, when Joy showed up in a “MAGA” dress declaring her support for Trump. It instantly gave Joy the celebrity that she had been craving for years (and which we’d been keeping tabs on). A few days later, Carla had Joy on her Philadelphia radio show. Then, this year, Joy got attention again when she wore a pro-Life themed dress to the Grammys. Again, Carla had her on her show, unaware of the controversy around her.

“All I knew was that Joy was pro-Life, anti-feminist, and pro-marriage,” she says. She did notice that some of the things Joy said about her Christianity seemed a bit off, but “there are a lot of ‘baby believers’ out there, so I cut her some slack,” Carla says.

Joy Villa has been one of the most visible and active members of the Church of Scientology in recent years. We’ve been keeping tabs on her since at least 2014, when she continually showed up in church publications and was working with Scientology front groups. In October 2016, Joy and her then-fiance, Danish photographer Thorsten Overgaard, became “Patron Meritorious” donors for having given at least $250,000 to the church, and they were married at Scientology’s holiest site, the Fort Harrison Hotel in Clearwater, Florida, on Christmas Day 2016. Joy has reached the state of “Clear” in Scientology, which can take years of work up the “Bridge to Total Freedom” and requires many hours of “auditing” — Scientology’s form of counseling — which involves having a subject “remember” their experiences in past lives going back millions of years and on other planets. Former Scientology spokesman Mike Rinder has asserted that any Scientologist who goes as far as Joy Villa has would have been convinced to give up what are called “other practices” as they absorb Hubbard’s teachings that the world’s other religions are all false, and that Jesus Christ, for example, is an invention, a figment of the imagination. “There was no Christ,” Hubbard can be heard to say on a 1968 recording.

After Joy shot to fame last year, Trump supporters began to raise questions about her claims of being both a Scientologist and a devout Christian, and her political ambitions began to take a tumble. But despite those setbacks, she hasn’t given up her attempts to regain the political spotlight.

About six weeks ago, Villa reached out to Carla, asking about the “Campaign for Life” event that was going to feature the president.

“I kept wondering why she kept bugging me about the White House, the White House, the White House. She must have said it a million times,” Carla says. She connected Joy with the event’s coordinator, and then heard that Joy had secured the spot to sing the anthem.

Then, a few days before the event, Carla says she finally heard something about Joy being a Scientologist. She did some research, and says she landed on some of our past stories.

“I called the organizers to let them know,” she says, “but she was already set to sing the anthem.”

On Tuesday morning, Carla and her family met Joy and her husband Thorsten Overgaard in the lobby of Trump International Hotel. They were taken to the East Wing of the White House for a private tour.

“She said she was hoping to see Trump backstage before she sang,” Carla says. Overgaard, meanwhile, was busy snapping photos as they took their tour.

And then, Carla asked Joy directly about being a Scientologist.

“‘Oh, I’m a Christian too,’ she said. ‘I’m a born-again believer.’ I told her you can’t be both, but she disagreed. She said they have people from Judaism and Islam in Scientology, that it was just a self-help group. I couldn’t tell if she thought I was naive or if she was just lying to my face,” Carla tells us.

We told her that we had to give Carla some props for being so up front with Villa, and right there in the White House.

“Singer Joy Villa posted a video on Twitter showing the group singing the national anthem and posing for pictures just moments before the brawl broke out.” The camera hog showed up for an impromptu fistfight at Trumps star on Hollywood Blvd

“Singer Joy Villa posted a video on Twitter showing the group singing the national anthem and posing for pictures just moments before the brawl broke out.” The camera hog showed up for an impromptu fistfight at Trumps star on Hollywood Blvd

I suppose she is still in tryouts for a Trump shill, maybe now she’s trying out for a Roger Stone type provocateur. She has to be pulling in some $$ for this or is betting on $$ from somewhere. Not fundamentalist Christians tho, maybe the Yiannopoulos wing. He gets paid.

Joy Villa continues her seduction of Republicans, Conservatives and Conservative Christians by hosting Carla D'Addesi on her podcast. D'Addesi is a MAGA, pro-NRA, pro-life, Christian author, radio host on Fox affiliate 1180 AM WFYL, and political commentator seen on FOX, OANN and CBN.